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Allina Medical Clinic's Provider Resource for Managing Adult Spinal Pain

This web site is intended for health care professionals. If you are not a health care professional and have questions about spinal pain or any information you read here, we recommend that you consult your physician or other health care provider regarding your specific situation. Information on this web site is not a substitute for the advice of your physician. 

Allina Medical Clinic’s provider resource for managing adult spinal pain promotes active conservative spine rehabilitation. It is based on the best evidence found in scientific literature to date and on the collective experience of members of the Allina Medical Clinic Adult Spine Pain Task Force.

Goals of the Provider Resource

• To improve the quality of treatment of adult spinal pain based on scientific evidence and best of practice
• To develop a common approach to managing adult spinal pain as Allina Medical Clinic
• To decrease the use of unnecessary imaging procedures

The Task Force has developed materials to assist Allina Medical Clinic providers deliver up-to-date evidenced-based medical care. Materials include:
Information About Managing Adult Spinal Pain 

• Philosophical Approaches to Managing Spinal Pain 
• The Initial Assessment
• What to Consider Before Ordering Diagnostic Imaging Tests 
• Managing Non-specific Spinal Pain
• Managing Acute Disc Herniations
• Worker's Compensation Patients
  - Minnesota’s worker's compensation law
  - Tips for successful processing of claims
• Historical Red Flags/Exam Red Flags
• Lumbar Spine X-ray Indications and Spine Imaging Guideline

Visit Planning Materials - Forms, handouts and other materials for a spinal patient's chart
 
Flow Charts 

• Initial Presentation Guideline 
• Conservative Treatment Failure 
• Adult Spinal Pain Guideline 

Forms 

• Patient History
• Adult Spine Pain Exam
• Follow-up Spine Assessment Visit
• Adult Spine Pain Standing Orders

Psychosocial Screening and Assessment Tools (when linked, scroll down to pages 23 - 25)

Nerve Root Syndrome Illustrations

• Common Single Nerve Root Syndromes
• Head and Arms
• Chest
• Legs

Patient Handouts

• Home Exercise Program for Low Back Pain
• Home Exercise Program for Neck Pain
• Treating Your Spinal Pain
• How Your Provider Will Manage Your Spinal Pain
• Diagnostic Imaging Tests for Spinal Pain
• Your First Clinic Visit for Spinal Pain
• Treating Acute Disc Herniations

Clinical Care Improvement Audit Forms

• Spine Care Collection Tool 
• Collection Tool for PT, chiropractor and massage therapy evaluation 

For AMC Physicians only: you may access the following documents on the AKN

• Adult Spine CCI Occupational Health 2001
• 2001 Adult Spine Pain Graph
• AMC Coon Rapids Adult Spine Pain Audit
• ASC Coon Rapids Audit
• Referrals for Phase III
• Communication - AMC Staff and Physicians to Referring Physicians and Surgeons

First published: 03/13/2002
Last updated: 08/01/2002

Reviewed by: Paul Kleeberg, MD